How Seven Applies To Narrative Theories

BY MICHAELA MCCOLE

Toderovs theory

Toderovs theory was that he thought every film had an Equilibrium, Disequilibrium then a new Equilibrium. However the film seven subverts this theory. The film starts off with everything normal, a state of equilibrium. Mills is happily married with his wife and Somerset is ready to retire from his job. Then it goes to a disequilibrium when people start to die, and Somerset decides not to retire. He decides to take on the case with Mills. At the end of the film there is no state of new equilibrium, even though the killer is caught we find out that Mills wife was murdered, and she was also pregnant, Mills only found this out when he got told by the man who killed her. This at the end makes the killer want to die so he doesnt have to face prison, which is what he gets; Mills shoots him and he dies. Therefore this means that at the end there is no new equilibrium. Toderovs theory seems to be proven in most in most mainstream films, it just doesnt apply in the film seven.

Levi-Strauss theory

His theory was that in films, there was always binary opposites. He believed these were: Good vs. Evil. In this film the good would be Mills and Somerset and the evil would be John Doe (The killer) Wilderness vs. City. In this film the wilderness is the middle of nowhere, and the city would be New York Police vs. Crime. In this film it would be detectives vs. murderers. Law enforcement vs. Law breaking. In this film it would be the policemen vs. the criminals. Weak vs. Strong. In this film it would be the victim vs. the criminal. Follow vs. Against. In this film it would be police vs. criminal Life vs. Death. In this film the life would be the victims who live and the death would be the victims who die.

This theory applies to the film seven as these are all of the binary opposites, with examples from the film.

Propps theory

Propp looked at many films and decided they have some sort of structuralism in them, they have different character types and these are the character types in seven: The Hero would be both Mills and Somerset as they are the people who are trying to look for the killer and kill him. The Villain would be John Doe as he is the one who kills people for their sins. The Donor would be Somerset as he provides Mills with the information about the seven deadly sins in the library.

The Helper would be Somerset because he helps Mills to find the villain (John Doe)
The Princess would be Mills wife (Tracy) because she was with the Hero, and nothing should have happened to her, she wasnt involved in it that much. Her Father would be Somerset as she goes to him to talk about her child and asks for advice, treating him like a fatherly figure.

The Dispatcher would be the Police Captain as he sends Mills and Somerset out on their way to try and find the murderer.
The false hero would be John Doe, this is because he thinks hes doing a good job by killing people to get their sins, but in fact he is not doing well.